AMT Public

Name: Alison

Email:

Web Site: http://towns.org.uk/bpmembers/a.eardley/

Bio: Alison is the Policy Manager at AMT. She graduated from Canterbury Christ Church University College in 2000 with a BSc in Tourism with French and then became the Tourism Officer for the east London Borough of Newham. She successfully launched the Borough’s first Visitor Strategy.

In 2002 Alison moved to Chichester having accepted a new job as the Tourism Manager for West Sussex County Council, where she stayed for 4 years. Her next role was in the central Government Department for Communities and Local Government (formerly the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister) where she was responsible for liaising with external stakeholders on local government issues, and also worked on the Local Government and Empowerment White Papers.

At AMT, Alison will be working with members and key strategic partners to develop and influence central and regional policy relating to market towns. She works Monday afternoons, all day Thursday and Friday mornings, and can be contacted on 0787 659 8957 or by email at Alison.eardley@towns.org.uk.

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Practical guidance to help local authorities make the most of Community Led Planning (CLP)

July 20th, 2011

AMT has been working with Action for Communities in Rural England (ACRE) on a joint project to increase awareness of the practical ways that local authorities can make the most of CLP.

The project has evidenced existing resources and examples of best practice from across England and published these in a new publication.


• Download Making the Most of Community Led Planning: a best practice guide for local authorities {opens pdf}

12 local authorities and 12 members of ACRE’s Rural Community Action Network have directly participated in the project.

Their collective knowledge and experience has been used to identify a range of actions that local authorities can take in conjunction with local facilitators to make sure that communities produce high quality plans with actions that are achievable and useful for strategic purposes.

Watch short video on the CLP project

The project has been part sponsored by Communities and Local Government’s (CLG) Empowerment Fund and has attracted support from a number of government departments and national organisations including:

• Defra
• LG Group
• Local Government Improvement and Development (LGID)
• National Association of Local Councils (NALC)
• Community Development Foundation (CDF)

What next?

• For more information on how Action for Market Towns is supporting the localism agenda, take a look at our Localism Ladder
• Find out how we can support you in producing a Community Led / Neighbourhood Plan here

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Providing support for Community Led Planning and Neighbourhood Planning

June 30th, 2011

We’re here to help!  Contact the Market Towns Academy at: academy@towns.org.uk

Experience has shown that it can be useful to employ the services of an independent person to facilitate the Town Action Planning Process. 

This might range from an introduction to Town Action Planning to more hands-on support through each of the stages.

Action for Market Towns can help by providing this support – we have developed relationships with a number of facilitators who have extensive experience in Community Led Planning across a diverse range of towns and villages.  They can offer support across a range of areas including:

• an introduction to Community Led Planning
• understanding the impact of the Localism Bill and what this means to you
• practical support through each of the steps of LEAD
• advice on how to gain support from wider partners

In addition, Action for Market Towns’ Academy provides tailored training on a whole host of areas that might be relevant to you or the communities you work with throughout the process.  This includes areas such as chairmanship skills, identifying and bidding for funds, and undertaking research.

Contact: academy@towns.org.uk or fill out our online form

Tailored consultancy

Our consultancy arm, amt-i offers a range of products aimed at enhancing the high street and economic performance.

• Find out more about what amt-i does here

As an example, AMT Benchmarking is a working, practical example of the government agenda of localism, with key stakeholders and volunteers in town centres working together to firstly measure economic performance before using the data to implement initiatives and projects.

• Find out more about how benchmarking can improve your town(s) here

More information

AMT’s Localism Ladder has been designed to provide support to towns – communities and local authorities – when preparing for and delivering the localism agenda.

• Find out more about the Localism Ladder….and start climbing it!

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Feed in your views on Government’s proposed community rights

March 23rd, 2011

Localism Bill – Consultations on the Right to Buy (assets of community value) and the Community Right to Challenge

We would like you to help us shape a response on behalf of small towns

Details on the Community Right to Buy and the Community Right to Challenge were announced on Friday 4th February in a consultation by the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Scroll down to find out how you can help to inform the two consultations.  Deadline for submitting to CLG is Tuesday 3^rd May, so if you wish to feed comments to AMT’s response, please forward them by Wednesday April 20^th to Alison.Eardley@towns.org.uk.

1.  The Community Right to Buy – assets of community value

The Community Right to Buy policy is intended to level the playing field by strengthening the opportunities for local groups who want to have a greater say about what happens to public or private assets of importance to their local community which may come up for sale.

This is policy is of real interest to communities in market towns, where communities already have a track record of buying local assets, be they the local shop, or a building of local importance, and running them themselves.

Details of the consultation include:

-          Who should be able to nominate land or buildings for the list of community assets, and how?

-          Who should be able to trigger the ‘window of opportunity’ and should community groups be able to buy an asset during that period, before it goes on the open market?

-          What type of land and buildings should be excluded from being on the list?

-          How long should the ‘window of opportunity’ for community groups be?

Action for Market Towns have reviewed the Consultation document (opens CLG’s page) that has been published by CLG, and distilled the points that we feel are most relevant to our members.  We have offered some points to consider against each of the questions posed in the consultation.  The aim is to obtain your views about the ‘Right to Buy’ concept and its practical applications, with the aim of enabling AMT to give a considered response to DCLG that is representative of members’ views.

Tell us what you think:

• Open AMT’s analysis (Right to Buy – Assets of Community Value) (opens word doc)

2.  The Community Right to Challenge – assets of community value

The Right to Challenge gives voluntary and community sector bodies (including charities, social enterprises, mutuals and co-ops) parish councils and local authority employees delivering the service, new powers to challenge and take over a local service.

This is policy is of real interest to communities in market towns, where communities may feel that they wish to challenge the way a service is currently run.  In contrast, communities may find this of interest in terms of safeguarding against the potential outcomes that a challenge can bring.

Details of the consultation include:

-          Which services should not be subject to a challenge?

-          Should the Right to Challenge be extended to other service providers?

-          What should be included in an Expression of Interest (when making a challenge)?

-          Details on the process of making the challenge including timescales.

Action for Market Towns have reviewed the Consultation document that has been published by CLG, and distilled the points that we feel are most relevant to our members.  We have offered some points to consider against each of the questions posed in the consultation.  The aim is to obtain your views about the ‘Right to Challenge’ concept and its practical applications, with the aim of enabling AMT to give a considered response to DCLG that is representative of members’ views.

Tell us what you think:

• Open AMT’s analysis (Right to Challenge) (opens word doc)

You can send in your thoughts on either or both of the consultations by emailing: Alison.Eardley@towns.gov.uk

Alternatively, why not post your thoughts on the AMT forum here

We’re also looking for real life examples of localism in practice so if you think you have been involved in something that fits the bill, do let us know!

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Tourism and market towns

September 15th, 2010

Introduction

Tourism is one of the largest industries in the UK.

Indeed the government have stated that they intend to take steps to improve the competitiveness of the UK tourism industry, recognising the important part it plays in our national economy.

Tourism, or the Visitor Economy, involves the movement of people to places outside where they normally live and beyond their normal routine.  This can be as a day trip, or as a longer stay.  Visitors themselves might be domestic (i.e. from within the UK) or foreign, and can be visiting a place for any number of reasons, including leisure, business, or visiting friends and relatives.

Some headline statistics

(source: VisitBritain)

• Tourism is the UK’s third highest export earner behind Chemicals and Financial Services, with inbound visitors spending more than £16bn annually and contributing over £3bn to the Exchequer.
• One in twelve jobs in the UK is currently either directly or indirectly supported by tourism.
• The 29.9 million overseas visitors who came in 2009 spent £16.6 billion in the UK. These figures represent a 6% decline in volume and 2% (nominal) increase in value compared with 2008.
• In 2009, average room occupancy for all serviced accommodation throughout the UK was 58% (down 2 percentage points from 2008). Average bedspace occupancy was 43% (a decrease of 1 percentage point on 2008).
• The top UK attractions in 2009 included The British Museum, The National Gallery and the Science Museum.

The importance of developing sustainable tourism

The tourism industry can bring both positive and negative impacts to the destination.  These are generally categorised into economic, environmental and socio-cultural impacts:

• Economic Impacts – Postive impacts might include additional money being injected into the local economy and additional jobs being supplied.  Negative impacts might include the fact that many tourism related jobs are low-paid and seasonal.
• Environmental Impacts: Positive impacts might include regeneration of a destination that might otherwise be left to deteriorate and also increased awareness raising of fragile landscapes among residents and visitors.  Negative impacts minght include over-saturation of fragile areas, such as reedbeds or hillpaths.
• Socio-cultural Impacts: Positive impacts might include increased civic pride in one’s area or increased understanding of other nationalities and ways of life.  Negative impacts might include increased local crime or, in places where there are lots of tourists, negative feelings on the part of the local community.

The importance is to think not only about economic benefits, but to balance these against the other potential impacts that tourism can bring.  In addition, it would be wise to think about what other industries a destination is rerlying on, as tourism can of course be affected by recessions, the exchange rate and other variables.

Tourism and market towns

Many of England’s market towns are attractive places, with their own distinctive character and heritage assets.  Tourism can play an important part in these local economies.

Some areas of England have clustered their market towns in order to share visitors rather than compete for them.  By celebrating their differences, each town can develop its own personality and uniqueness.

How can AMT help?

• amt-i business support and research

AMT’s consultancy arm offers a range of services that can benefit the development of your town for visitors and residents alike.  In particular amt-i can help you understand who your visitors are, their motivations and spending patterns.  Having this bank of information is vital if you want to invest in tourism, as it will enable you to monitor your progress.

Visit towns.org.uk/amt-i to find out about Visitor Research and also Business Training, Retail Skills, Better Welcome and Mystery Shopping or email business@towns.org.uk

• Training, and learning from others
  

AMT’s Market Towns Academy is a National Open College Network (NOCN) accredited training centre.  Taster courses on a range of areas are offered across the year or alternatively you can discuss your specific needs with our Training Co-ordinator, by emailing academy@towns.org.uk.

If you are not sure which support would be best for you, then why not try our free Sustainability Toolkit?

If you have delivered a successful tourism-related project in your town that you would like to share with other towns, for example by hosting a seminar or study tour; or you are developing a new project and would like to visit and learn from a town who has already implemented a similar project then you may be able to get financial support for this from our Towns-4-Towns Exchange Fund.

Of note for the visitor economy, we can run events covering issues such as tourism action planning, how to run a successful festival and improving your marketing.  Not only can we organise and deliver the event but we can also contribute up to 50% of the cost! For more information visit our Sharing Good Practice page.

• Town Action Planning (TAP)
  

Town Action Planning is the new, updated version of what was known as the Market Town Healthcheck.  It provides comprehensive step-by-step guidance on how your community can develop a community strategy and action plan for your town.  Tourism is featured within the guidance.  Find out more about Town Action Planning.

• VisitEngland’s new tourism strategy
  

VisitEngland is the national Tourist Board for England.  It launched “England: A Strategic Framework for Tourism 2010 – 2010” on 18 March 2010 and is currently consulting on the different themes within the strategy.

AMT is representing small towns in the action planning stage of VisitEngland’s work, in particular on the areas of Sustainable Tourism Development and Rural Tourism. For more information contact Alison.Eardley@towns.org.uk

Tourism in practice

Here are a couple of examples from around the country of what some market towns are doing to develop tourism:

Cheshire
A new website is aiming to showcase the Cheshire market towns and boost visitor numbers.

The website Cheshire Market Towns brings together 21 different towns and villages across the county, with each one having their own web page or iVisitorGuide. The site is driven by Visit Chester and Cheshire’s online Destination Management data system.

People logging on will be able to explore an interactive map of the county to find a town that interests them. They will then be able to view all the information they need to be able to plan their trip including attractions and Events.

Thame’s revolutionary iphone app
In February the Oxfordshire market town of Thame launched its own iPhone ‘app’ – ithame^TM – giving residents and visitors on-the-move details of services, amenities and businesses in the historic town.

The world’s first town-based application for Apple’s revolutionary iPhone was the work of local business consultants Andy McDonald and Simon Ralphs, with the assistance of Thamenews.net editor Sonja Francis.

ithame^TM is free to download and offers information on local amenities, heritage and historical walks, sports, accommodation, travel, news, business, events in Thame, music and local information for the youth. Users will be able to provide feedback on services they want to see introduced in new versions as well as receiving directions to points of interest in the town.

• Find out more about ithame here

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Business – What is the Coalition doing for market towns?

September 15th, 2010

Introduction

The Government believes that business is the driver of economic growth and innovation, and that urgent action is needed to boost enterprise, support green growth and build a new and more responsible economic model.

Most Relevant pledges:

• We will support the creation of Local Enterprise Partnerships – joint local authority business bodies brought forward by local authorities themselves to promote local economic development – to replace Regional Development Agencies (RDAs).  These may take the form of existing RDAs in areas where they are popular.
• We will take steps to improve the competitiveness of the UK tourism industry, recognising the important part it plays in our national economy.
• We will seek to ensure a level playing field between small and large retailers by enabling councils to take competition issues into account when drawing up their local plans to shape the direction and type of new retail development.

AMT Comment

It will be important for the small town perspective to be represented in the strategies of the new Local Enterprise Partnerships, including an appreciation of the potential of different types of small towns.

This could include an understanding of how selected towns or groups of towns can better contribute to improving the competiveness of the UK tourism industry – and can draw partially on the Better Welcome experience in the West Midlands.

Moves to ensure ‘a level playing field’ between small and large retailers will be welcomed alongside policies to safeguard town centres and is important to understand the inter-relationships between retail centres as part of this.

Policy into Practice

Local Enterprise Partnership (LEPs)

The coalition Government’s has set out radical plans to replace the nine English regional development agencies (RDAs) with up to 40 local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) formed by local authorities and businesses.

Eric Pickles, the Local Government Secretary, and Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, have said they will oversee planning, housing, transport and infrastructure, employment and enterprise and business start-ups.   Key RDA functions such as inward investment, industry sector leadership, innovation, business support and access to finance, will return to Whitehall.

To achieve its aims a £1bn fund over two years is being made available based on two objectives - one focusing on places that can create new private sector jobs and the second focusing on places that are overly reliant on public sector jobs.

Decentralisation and Localism Bill

Announced in the Queen’s Speech on the 25 May 2010, the Decentralisation and Localism Bill covers the new Coalition Government’s proposals for a wide range of planning and related legislation.

The Bill would ‘devolve greater powers to councils and neighbourhoods’ and ‘give local communities control over housing and planning decisions’, applying to England and Wales. As this Bill is focused on the devolved area of local government, the Government does not anticipate that it would apply to Scotland. However, because of the wide scope of this Bill the possibility of devolution implications cannot be ruled out at this time.

Local Economic Partnerships are one aspect of the new Bill.  Read more here.

Tourism Development

The visitor economy makes a significant contribution to many market towns.  AMT is already supporting towns in developing sustainable tourism in a number of ways.  Read more on our Tourism in Market Towns section.

Economic Recovery in Practice

• Gloucestershire Market Towns – Economic Recovery Research

A new report has highlighted north Cotswold market towns taking positive steps to boost business.

The report was commissioned by the Gloucestershire Market Towns Forum and features local initiatives being taken in forum member towns Chipping Campden and Winchcombe aimed at encouraging local people to shop and trade locally.

The forum’s latest Economic Recovery Report 2010 shows that although some towns are still suffering shop closures, there is good news too with 30 new businesses opening across the market towns from October 2009 to April 2010.

Read the full report.

• Six Towns and a Vale – A Strategic Economic Vision for Wiltshire
  

Wiltshire towns have embarked on an innovative journey to understand how they can become more economically viable and sustainable.

The initiative follows three stages.  The first, held April-June, has been based around a series of debates, with keynote speakers including Matthew Taylor of the RSA and Trevor Cherrett of the CRC, talking about the relationship of the towns with the neighbouring cities.

The second phase will build on the debates to deliver some tangible planning recommendations. The  third and final stage will move further into the delivery of practical solutions.

View the website here. (still in development)

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Transport – What does it mean for market towns?

September 15th, 2010

Introduction

The Government believes that a modern transport infrastructure is essential for a dynamic and entrepreneurial economy, as well as to improve well-being and quality of life.  It wants to make the transport sector greener and more sustainable, with tougher emission standards and support for new transport technologies.

Most Relevant Pledges:

• We will reform the way decisions are made on which transport projects to prioritise, so that the benefits of low carbon proposals (including light rail schemes) are fully recognised.
• We will support sustainable travel initiatives, including the promotion of cycling and walking, and will encourage joint working between bus operators and local authorities.

AMT Comment

It is important for AMT and its members to be aware of these approaches on sustainable travel because transport costs can be disproportionally high in rural areas.  Planning for sustainable transport is one of the key strands of the newly launched Town Action Planning Framework and transport is also covered under current Policy into Practice statements and on rural services.

Policy into Practice

Town Action Planning

Transport is an extremely important issue for market towns.  Key factors include:

• links between market towns and nearby cities
• access into towns from the rural hinterlands
• sufficient provision of more sustainable methods of transport including walking routes and cycle paths
• pedestrianisation within town centres
• car parking provision
• accessibility for different user groups

AMT support the principles of Community Led Planning, whereby communities themselves take the initiative to develop proposals for change that suit the specific needs that they themselves highlight.  Town Action Planning has been developed as a methodology to help communities do this.

Building on the former Market Town Healthcheck, the 80 page booklet is a step-by-step guide to developing a community plan, complete with worksheets and advice on how to gather relevant useful data.

It has been developed in line with the AMT/ACRE agreed framework called LEAD – Launch, Evidence, Agree, Deliver and monitor) beneath which any Community Led Plan should sit.

Find out more about Town Action Planning.

Rural Services

One of AMT’s four campaign areas focusses on Rural Services.  Read the Policy Position Statement here.  The challenges associated with the ongoing disparity between service quality and access in rural areas are great and varied.

Read more about AMT’s work on Rural Services, including our joint projects with the Rural Services Network.

Is the Future Electric?

The government is committed to tackling climate change and promoting low carbon living, and it seems that transport policy is no exception.

A new scheme to promote more environmentally friendly types of cars is to be introduced in early 2011.  The Plug-In car grant will offer people up to £5000 if they purchase an electric, hybrid or hydrogen fuelled car.

Are our towns ready for this?  Or is this just for city dwellers?  Read more here.




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